A national survey on nutrition in Japan conducted in 1995 revealed that fat consumption was rising and fat content as a percent of total calorie intake exceeded an appropriate level. This trend is attributed mainly to the Westernization of eating habits. Accordantly, heightened concerns about general health among the population is resulting in a growing demand for low-fat cheeses and cream, and other oil and fat products.
A spread is a type of fat composition produced by preparing a water-in-oil emulsion from a water phase and an oil phase, followed by cooling, solidifying, and agitating. Generally, a product with an oil-phase to water-phase ratio of more than 65% by weight is called a regular fat spread, while a product with a smaller oil-phase to water-phase ratio, in particular less than 40% by weight, is called a low-fat spread. Since oil and water are immiscible, in the production of the aforementioned spreads, the two layers are emulsified or dispersed to make a water-in-oil type emulsion.
However, certain emulsification or dispersion methods, or certain ratios of the two phases, have caused problems in manufacturing or have resulted in poor quality products. For example, a phase conversion occurs during emulsification or the subsequent pasteurization, cooling or solidification process, or the products have a coarse texture. These problems occur more often in the production of low-fat spreads in which higher water-phase to fat-phase ratio results in an unstable emulsion. This necessitated the addition of a highly effective emulsifier or a combination of large amounts of emulsifier and stabilizer. Consequently, conventional low-fat spread melts poorly in the mouth, do not demulsify, and do not yield a sufficiently-satisfying flavor through the mouth. Consumers have to date resisted these products because of these and other problems. Moreover, these problems are evident as well in regular-fat spreads.
The present invention is to solve the abovementioned problems found in the prior art. Namely, an objective of the present invention is to provide a spread which melts well in the mouth and demulsifies rapidly when ingested to yield a sufficiently-satisfying flavor; and for which these are no problems in manufacturing or with product quality.